) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites..
On September 13 and 14, 2017, NOAA held the Environmental Literacy Program Resilience Education Grantee Workshop at the Museum of Science offsite link in Boston, Massachusetts. Innovative science educators and researchers from across the country convened to swap ideas on how to keep communities safe from extreme weather and other environmental hazards, share lessons learned, and pioneer the emerging field of resilience education.
2018 ELP Grantee Workshop (Image credit: Eric Workman (Museum of Science, Boston))
Since 2015, NOAA’s Environmental Literacy Program (ELP) has funded projects that build the environmental literacy necessary for communities to become more resilient to extreme weather and other environmental hazards they face. While building resilient communities is a core component of NOAA’s mission and has increasingly become a focus at all levels of government, using environmental and science education to create resilient people and communities is a relatively new field. As a result, there is limited information on best practices or lessons learned. Consequently, the ELP-funded projects could benefit from a network that empowers them to collaborate and share information on the challenges they face and the solutions they develop as they carry out their projects.
It was valuable to come together with others from around the country who are addressing the same mission.
- NOAA Grantee Workshop Participant
The workshop brought together thirteen recipients of the Office of Education grants awarded in 2015, 2016, and 2017 through the Environmental Literacy Grant competitions. The workshop aimed to increase collaboration and build camaraderie among grantees. Through interactive sessions, grantees were able to share best practices for resilience education projects and present solutions to the challenges they encountered.
Workshop participants came up with many good ideas that can be applied beyond these NOAA-funded projects. Looking for details? The workshop report is now available. It provides an overview of the funded projects and summarizes insights gleaned from their work thus far.
The workshop succeeded in fostering ongoing collaboration and making connections among grantees. Ninety-six percent of the participants who responded to a post-workshop survey reported that the workshop was helpful for improving the effectiveness of their work with resilience education. All reported that they discovered new ideas or met people related to their resilience education work through the workshop. And, the majority of the participants reported they will take steps to further collaborate with other grantees as a result of the workshop. Overall, this workshop was a launching point to help the grantees learn from each other and laid the foundation for a strong, collaborative network to facilitate effective resilience-based education programs.
To learn more about NOAA’s Environmental Literacy Program, please visit: www.noaa.gov/office-education/elp
